Exploring DC Superhero Movies: What Makes a Great Hero?

Why do certain superhero movies personally and emotionally resonate with you? Sometimes the reasons are obvious: a great story, memorable characters, stellar performances, cool special effects and awesome direction.

Maybe you wish you could have the superhero’s powers? Sometimes, it’s harder to put a finger on exactly why a particular superhero captures the imagination while others are forgettable.

Superheroes use their extraordinary abilities to perform heroic deeds. Their struggle to overcome conflict should imbue something meaningful.

There are many different types of heroes. Some don’t fit neatly into a category but the building blocks of a superhero are universal patterns. Here are several qualities you might see in a superhero and what they tell us about the human condition:

The Biggest Superhero Movies of 2017, Ranked Worst to Best

Superhero movies continue to dominate. Each of this year’s big six live-action superhero movies are in the top ten at the box office for 2017. DC served up a double volley with the first Wonder Woman film and the team-up Justice League. The best stand-alone Wolverine movie marks the end of Hugh Jackman’s era as Logan. Marvel Studios is still going strong adding Spider-Man: Homecoming into their shared universe. Here’s a personal take on how the biggest superheroes movies of 2017 stacked up. Your opinions may vary from this list, you can share your own rankings in the comments below.

Just a quick note, for a friendly discussion on 2017 Superhero Movies, check out Film Focus podcast hosted by Hypersonic55 Realm of Reviews and Other Stuff. P.S. There will be mild spoilers for Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Wonder Woman. Thanks to Hypersonic55 for inviting me on his podcast.

Justice League Review

Justice League could have been worse. The DC superhero team up flick is a run-of-the-mill mediocre effort that shouldn’t be written off as a complete mess. There’s some decent moments here and there. The sum of the good parts: Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman is not enough to elevate Justice League into an above average spectacle.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Spoiler Free Premiere Review

Review on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Season 1, Episode 1 “Pilot, Part 1”

As DC’s comic book movies are building towards an epic superhero team up, the television division has gotten to a head start in the form of Legends of Tomorrow which debuted Thursday night on the CW.   

Legends of Tomorrow wants to be a bold adventurous sci-fi romp through time. It’s got the time-travelling part down, the rest is a work in progress. 

Batman And Robin (The New 52) Volume 1 Born To Kill Comic Review

Batman And Robin (The New 52), Vol. 1 ‘Born To Kill’ Comic Review

Release Date: July 10, 2012. Peter J. Tomasi (Writer), Patrick Gleason (Penciller).

Note: The New 52 is DC’s relaunch of comic book titles, making it more accessible to new readers who have no knowledge of previous story lines.  “Born To Kill”, which collects issues 1-6 of Batman and Robin, is not a lighthearted, “buddy-cop” story.  It’s worthy of discussion that scratches beneath the surface. This is a recommendation article that contains some spoilers as it sets up the story, outlines the themes and introduces the characters, including the villain who is revealed in the first page of the graphic novel.

 

The dynamic between Batman and Robin in ‘Born To Kill’ is not that of hero and sidekick. Nor master and protegé. It’s a father and son relationship that plays out in an engaging manner.

Damian is Robin, the ten-year old son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul. At the age of three, Damian started to train with the League of Assassins. Cold blooded violence and a killer instinct have been indoctrinated into him from an early age. Add to the fact that Damian is incredibly impulsive and is acting out of his resentment towards his father makes him an unpredictable, killing machine in the making.

“There’s a part of Damian that is broken, and it’s my job, my responsibility — to fix him,” Bruce confides in Alfred. To which Alfred replies, “It’s your job to be a father, not a mechanic, Master Bruce.” Bruce’s heart is in the right place but his attempts to repair and protect his son from himself only serves to push Damian to the edge. There’s an internal conflict in Damian that desperately wants his father’s approval for who he is and relate to the dark rage that he is suppressing.

Continue reading for spoilers:

Arrow: Season 1 Episode 5 Review – ‘Damaged’

Last episode’s “An Innocent Man” was a heavy-handed musing on the morality of vigilante justice. Diggle was initially vehemently opposed to Oliver’s actions, denouncing him as a criminal and murderer. However when Oliver revealed that he defeated the assassin that killed Diggle’s brother, an act accomplished outside of the law, Diggle reconsidered the offer to team up with the hooded archer as an opportunity to do good and that the end justifies the means.

Continue reading for full spoilers on Arrow Season 1 Episode 5 “Damaged”:

Arrow: Season 1 Episode 3 Review – ‘Lone Gunman’

Courtesy of CW

“No man is an island” is a sentiment Arrow Season 1 Episode 3’s ‘Lone Gunman’ reflects upon. Simply stated, we cannot live alone or in isolation. If we hope to survive, thrive or pursue our life’s purpose, we must acknowledge our interdependence and recognize how our actions effect one another.

It’s a notion that is literally and metaphorically represented during Oliver Queen’s time on the mysterious island, which as discovered last episode was not deserted. The hooded man who shot the arrow at Ollie explains he did it to protect him and that Ollie could not survive alone on the island.

Arrow: Season 1 Episode 2 Review – ‘Honor Thy Father’

“Honor Thy Father” essentially borrowed the blueprint from the series premiere. As a general unwritten rule, the first several episodes of a new series should act as a pilot to allow casual viewers to easily understand the main characters, their motivations and the dilemmas they must overcome without having to watch the previous episodes. As with most pilots, the plot is merely a device to establish the premise and characters. Similarly to the premiere, this episode features Green Arrow threatening a corrupt business man to confess his crimes, another shirtless training montage and more intriguing flashbacks to the island.

Justice League, Volume 1 Origin (The New 52) Review

Justice League, Volume 1 Origin (The New 52) Review

Note: If you don’t know which comic to start reading, check out this review.

Courtesy DC Comics

There’s a kinetic energy that flies off the first page and doesn’t let up until you’ve reached the back cover. Non-stop action, gorgeous artwork, and fun character interactions make this a highly recommended read especially for newcomers like myself to the series. Justice League Volume 1 Origin is part of DC Comics’ New 52, where all the series in their catalogue hit the reset button and start from ground zero. In ‘Origin’, Batman is just an urban legend, Superman is ‘that alien guy from Metropolis’, and the word superhero is not part of the cultural lexicon.

Written by Geoff Johns, the story starts off in Gotham City with Batman meeting Green Lantern for the first time as they investigate a mysterious alien creature that leaves behind a strange cube believed to be a computer of sorts. I really enjoyed the bold, hyper-confident, characterization of Green Lantern and his interactions with the dark, brooding Batman; his polar opposite in terms of personality. When Green Lantern discovers his new ally doesn’t have any super powers he blurts out, “You’re not just some guy in a bat costume are you? Are you freaking kidding me!?!” Not one to be underestimated, Batman finds a way to quickly disarm Green Lantern’s ring unnoticed. Then Batman holds out the ring to an unarmed Hal Jordan and asks “What’s this do?”, followed by a funny disparaging zinger (I won’t spoil it here).